Burial
by Scintilla-Ish
Summary: He bit his lips as he started to lift the first pile of dirt, it was hard to let go, he didn't want to dirty his partner's near angelic, peaceful face - but he managed. It grew easier as he let go of each pile, feeling a weight get lifted from his shoulders, and a slightly smaller one settle in. Slight-AU. Oneshot.


**The action or practice of interring a dead body.**

* * *

"Wait."

 _"..."_

 _"Stay safe, okay?"_

 _"Stop worrying so much, Tsuna."_

 _"I can't help it..!"_

 _..._

There he was, the sky crying drops of transparency, looking down on the body of that one person - the person who he held dearly, he, who brought him up from the mud. The person who was one of his most loved ones.

He held an umbrella up, sheltering him from the harsh rain, he approached the body, feeling a familiar chill settle over him. He was used to it by now, the body heat that was forever lost when death claimed the host - and only the cold remained. He could feel the cold meters away from the body. And he looked on blankly, lips pursed into a straight line and amber eyes revealing a hidden rush of emotions.

Tsuna dropped the umbrella, and shed his coat, he didn't know why he bothered with the two, when he would let go of them in the end - _Reborn would scold me for not wearing appropriate attire in rainy weather,_ he thought absently. He dropped to his knees and cradled the small head of his adviser, pressing a slightly trembling hand to the side of the cold, cold, body's forehead.

Tsuna closed his eyes, clutching the small, cold, body to his chest, and it was beyond weird - describing his dear partner as _cold_ , when he was a ball of warmth and sunlight and chaos - and Tsuna didn't know what to think anymore. So he looked back on the last few months, when his partner was still _warm_.

He remembered being in his office, stressing over an enemy rising to ranks, and he had entered. Reborn. His former tutor, now advisor - that was then. That was back then.

Reborn had knocked him over the head, and lightened the atmosphere in his office a tad bit, despite also stressing over nearly the same problems with Tsuna.

The baby had told Tsuna that he would be out for a few weeks, he needed to retrieve something of importance - one of the pacifiers, he had said. Tsuna had worried, he didn't want Reborn to go out yet.

Reborn knocked him over the head again, normally wide, onyx, eyes narrowing, Tsuna had raised his hands in surrender.

 _And let the other go._

He let him walk out of that door, and he didn't see him again for a long time.

Tsuna brushed his hands over Reborn's hair, nearly knocking the fedora off by accident, and clutched the body closer to him.

The hitman looked so.. _small_ , compared to him. And that made the brunette's breath hitch slightly, feeling that familiar burn behind his eyelids. He held the tears back, and slowly looked around, fully taking in his surroundings for once in minutes, or was it hours? Tsuna didn't know, nor did he particularly care at the moment.

They were in a clearing - a _field_ , and there was nothing much noteworthy, except that he had been here before.

How could he forget this place? Tsuna had a picnic with his Famiglia here, under the warmth and light bickering, they were all smiles.

He looked around for that _one_ thing...Ah, there it was. The tree - it looked exactly the same as it had been a few years ago, and he stood up from where he had been kneeling, feeling his bones creak slightly from being in the same position for so long.

Tsuna approached the old tree steadily, looking down at the body in his arms as he did so, the brunette flicked his eyes over his surroundings once more, kneeling down again.

He stared at the ground for a moment, taking the time to gather his thoughts enough to act - and he blinked slowly. He had nothing to dig with...Tsuna glanced down at Reborn, He didn't want to go _now_. His eyes get drawn to his hands, and he sets his tutor down on the ground, making sure not to jostle the fedora on the small head.

Reborn was able to do the same thing once...So Tsuna dug with his hands. Not minding the dirt caking his hands and getting caught between his nails, nor the burning of his hands when they collided with roots and stones.

Deep inside his sorrowful mind, he chuckled bitterly. He was doing the exact same thing that a character in a story he once read, did. Only that it was for a dear partner and friend, not brother - and Reborn was more of a father-figure, despite being stuck in a child's body.

Tsuna observed his work as he finished, it wasn't all that rectangular, it was more of an oval, the edges were curved, and the depth of the hole was a mess. It wasn't the best he would do, but it would work. And it was chaos, it suited Reborn well.

The brunette wiped his hands on his pants, absently taking note of how he felt slightly sluggish with the rain weighing him down. Tsuna looked to his tutor's body, and he was suddenly incredibly reluctant to do what he was about to do.

He breathed in and out, reaching to carry Reborn once again, and leant over the hole as much as he could. Tsuna gently set down his partner's body, eyelids lowering as he did. He, he couldn't - but he _should_. It was the _right_ thing to do - but it still felt _wrong_.

Tsuna bit his lips as he started to lift the first pile of dirt, it was hard to let go, he didn't want to dirty his tutor's near angelic, peaceful face - but he managed.

It grew easier as he let go of each pile, feeling a weight get lifted from his shoulders, and a slightly smaller one settle in.

He smoothed the dirt over, a knot starting to grow in his throat, and he swallowed it back. He needed to do one last thing, Tsuna looked to the side, to the stone he had spotted awhile ago.

That would do.

He brought it over, feeling incredibly empty as he did so, he was feeling too much emotions for his mind to comprehend. Tsuna took a knife out from his abandoned coat on the ground, and started to carve, despite his settling hunger and exhaustion during it.

He also ignored the steady bleeding of his fingers, for the sake of finishing his task.

And he set it on the head of the patch.

The Decimo of Vongola breathed in, leaning back to look at his work.

 _Reborn._

 _A partner who looked ahead,_

 _A friend who looked beyond,_

 _A father who looked after me._

Tsuna blinked slowly, and the corner of his eyes pricked with tears, he stopped breathing for a moment.

What should I say?

He thought, pursing his lips as he looked up, attempting to prevent the tears from escaping, once again absently noting that it was slowly clearing up in the sky, revealing a sunset.

 _I'm sorry? Forgive me? I love you?_

He didn't know. It was too late.

 _Too late._

Tsuna looked at the grave, and the tears started their way down silently.

A soft whisper, the first he had spoken in hours, lost in the sound of more gentle rain.

 _"I love you, Papà."_


End file.
